For four days, international experts will gather with different Mine Action actors in Colombia in order to discuss the country’s progress and challenges regarding humanitarian demining. They will also talk about the progress made to implement these operations with national and international civil organizations.

One Colombian and nine foreign experts will gather in Cartagena de Indias from October 13th through 16th in order to exchange points of view and contribute with elements to discuss the Seminar’s three main central themes: development, accreditation and implementation.

The seminar is part of the “Institutional Strengthening of Colombia’s national mine action capacity” project, financed with resources from the European Union.

The “Humanitarian Demining as a Development motor” discussion panel will be the first of the event, and will be lead by Charles Frisby, an international expert from London. The second will be related to “Accreditation, regulation and control mechanisms for the development of Humanitarian Demining activities by civil organizations”, which will be led by Mohammad Sediq Rashid, an expert from Afghanistan. On the last, the matter of “demining organizations implementation” will be reviewed, under the guidance of Joanne Durham, from the United Kingdom.

Directors and local specialists of Demining Agencies and Mine Action centres from Jordan, Croatia, Cambodia, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Colombia will also participate.

The European Union ambassador, Fernando Cardesa, and the Director of the Presidential Program for Mine Action (PAICMA), Andrés Dávila Ladrón de Guevara, will welcome the participants and international experts.

The President-Designate of the “Cartagena Summit on a mine-free world”, Norwegian ambassador Susan Eckey will also attend the Seminar, as well as the Director of the Support Unit for the Convention’s Implementation, Kerry Brinkert, who will address the country’s challenges in implementing article 5 of the Convention, related to the deadline granted to the State Parties to clear the zones affected by anti-personnel mines.
 

Likewise, the Norwegian delegation will present the progress made on the preparation of the “Cartagena Summit on a mine-free world”, which constitutes the most important discussion scenario for the international community regarding the progress made and challenges in order to overcome the issue of mines.

After setting up the International Seminar, the Vice-President of Colombia, Ambassador Eckey and Mr. Brinkert will carry out a press conference at the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena de Indias.

This Seminar is framed within the so-called “Road to Cartagena” and is part of a series of preparatory events for the “Cartagena Summit on a mine-free world”, which will be held in Cartagena from November 29th to December 4th.

For more information, contact:

Nathalie Castro Baquero
Cell phone: 312 -386 3032
E-mail: nathaliecastro@presidencia.gov.co

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